A deliverance in death
“Not that God will deliver us from dying, but that hee will have a care for us in the houre of death, of what kinde soever our passage be.”
The last sermon by John Donne, the sermon in which he indirectly announces his own death, contains the acceptance of this natural occurrence rather than fighting it. It is the irony in these words that make an impact that not even God can or will prevent it from happening when the time comes.
God’s return to former glory
“…having also come into this world, in our flesh, he could have no other meanes to save us, he could have no other issue out of this world, nor returnee to his former glory, but by death…”
Donne, in this part of his sermon, mentions Jesus Christ as God made flesh, and implies the irony of the mortal body as only a restriction against his power. Flesh is mortal and has to die, so the only way for God himself to return to his former glory is by death.
Passages from death to death
Donne makes a comparison of birth to death. In fact, he says that birth, the entrance into life, is an issue from death. He describes the time in mother’s womb as comparable to being dead, and the womb being the closest thing to a grave. Therefore, the time from birth until the death is only a passage from death to death.
The irony of Death’s Duell
Is it ironic that the last sermon by John Donne is the sermon about dueling death? The answer is no if one considers the descriptions of his figure as being a ghastly version of his former self, looking very close to death. It is safe to assume that Donne knew that death is near, and his last sermon could be seen as a form of acceptance.
